FOLEY — The city of Foley’s recent stance on signage has come under fire.

During Monday’s Foley City Council work session, Foley business owner Cheryl Morrow announced her intent to picket Foley City Hall in protest of business she said she has lost since the city’s moratorium on right-of-way signage was lifted in July.

“I have 20 booths in Foley Indoor Flea Market,” she told the council, explaining that the city’s change in policy prohibits her from displaying a 15-foot promotional “balloon man” in front of the facility on Alabama Highway 59.

Morrow added that doing so has caused a loss in business, with vendors vacating the facility.

“I know you guys are fighting a sign problem,” she said, pointing to the city’s efforts to curtail vision obstruction for drivers. “But when cars drive past at 55 miles an hour, all I have to get their attention is that balloon man. We sit back more than 300 feet off the road.”

“Our ordinance does not permit this as a temporary sign,” Foley Mayor John Koniar said, adding that there are other ways to promote a business.

“He’s taken in at 5 o’clock every night and not put out until a quarter to 9 in the morning,” Morrow said. “The little, yellow, wavy balloon man catches people’s eye. It cuts my business in have when he’s not there.”

Foley City Administrator Mike Thompson said the city ordinance does not completely prohibit the balloon’s use.

“You could use it four times a year for special events,” he said. “But we’re not going to create an ordinance for conceptual wavy men.”

Upon further discussion, council membes suggested she work with the city to come up with a workable alternative.

“I asked her to come in,” Thompson said. “She wasn’t interested in this.”

Additional discussion concluded that any change in policy had to first be presented to the appropriate body.

“In reality, this has to come before the Planning Commission,” Mayor Pro-Temp Wayne Trawick said.

Morrow told the Council that she was only explaining her situation so they could understand why she is seeking a permit to picket Foley City Hall.

“The city of Foley does not support small businesses,” she said.

Trawick told her that he has been a longtime small-business owner and had a similar situation in the 1970 with a sign on wheels but that he worked with the city to come up with an acceptable alternative.

The discussion concluded with the city granting Morrow a 30-day permit to assemble no more than 10 people on the grass area in front of City Hall, beginning sometime this week.